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Question for Silent Hill enthusiasts

SteadyEvo

Member
How do you feel about what was shown of the Silent Hill 2 remake? I remember attempting to play the game on PS3 and at the time it felt horribly outdated and I was clueless as to what to do and why people loved it so much.

I’ve since, like a doofus, watched several YouTube videos detailing the story and what the game is all about. Still I’d like to experience it for myself.

Do you feel that the remake does the original justice? And will the changes to combat make the game more enjoyable and accessible to those that didn’t play the original? Obviously without playing only so much information can be gathered but you know what I’m asking.
 

Denton

Member
Do you feel that the remake does the original justice?
First couple trailers not really, but the 13 minute 4K gameplay - yes absolutely
And will the changes to combat make the game more enjoyable and accessible to those that didn’t play the original?
yes of course, even to those who did play the original like me

It is still early to make any judgements but I am positive. When SH2 remake idea was first floated, I imagined pretty much what we seem to be getting.
 

Arachnid

Member
It looks good after what I saw in the transmission. I'll copy some of my other comments:

James looks great, and his voice actor KILLED IT here. Laura is the most faithful and perfect of the bunch. Interior design looks fantastic, and changed enough to basically be a new game so that'll be fun. Maria looks great, but I'll need to see more scenes to see if she nails the "seductress" vibes. I thought Angela looked bad initially, but after seeing some other screenshots I'll chalk up how weird she looks in the graveyard to lighting. She looks great below, for example.

S5Sg1DZ.jpg


TBH, the voice acting in general nailed it (mostly; I'm still deciding on Angela). I like the modernized versions of their interactions. They keep the feel of the old convos while not sounding dated, which is an achievement.

My main complaint is how stiff the models move. James walks weird as shit and Angela moves like she's being puppeteered, which looks weird as hell. Fix this.

Combat looks good. Not great, but easily the best we've had in an SH game. I can rock with what I've seen. I don't think it's going to be the masterclass the OG is, but I never expected that from Bloober. From them, I'll be happy with a good-great game, because holy fuck were my expectations low.
 
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Everything lacked subtlety to me... It's complicated to explain.

Remaking SH 2 is a REALLY difficult task, because that game has this amateurish nature to it, that is difficult to replicate...

An obvious example is the voice acting and general acting of the original. It's very unique, and compliments the story and the themes BIG time...

Subtlety and "quiet" is a vital thing about Silent Hill 2. And at least from the trailers, they kept trying to be closer to Resident Evil more then Silent Hill. Loud and intense. When that's not what SH 2 is.

I genuinely believe that the only people that could Remake SH 2 well, are the people who made the original, and no one else.

I hate to keep dumping on Bloober Team, but putting this game in their hands, is an awful idea, considering the stuff they put out before, and their handling of sensitive topics (in The Medium).

But it's something I expect from Konami. It took Capcom RE 3 Remake being flawed, to put Resident Evil in better hands, and then we got RE 4 Remake.

Konami keeps giving out Silent Hill to ANYONE. Is like a lazy, inept pimp.

Silent Hill cannot handle a flop, a mediocre, or a flawed game at this point. It simply cannot.
 

RagnarokIV

Battlebus imprisoning me \m/ >.< \m/
Actors are great



The 13 min video from Bloober looks really good, see the Angela image above.
 

Shrap

Member
Bloober are absolutely awful and the wrong developers for this. And Konami are clueless and careless with gaming these days.

In saying that, it's really hard to capture Silent Hill without the actual original team working on it. It's like an arthouse film in the gaming world. Not the prettiest, not the highest budget but something that is surreal and unique and sticks with you. Recreating that feeling is nearly impossible, even if it was the original team. So I can't blame Bloober for not being able to catch that.

I can blame them for being shit though, missing the mark completely and for being one of the worst culprits for watering down modern horror games to barely interactive haunted house simulators.
 

NeverYouMind

Gold Member
The original is put on a pedestal for Freudian visual metaphors, Twin Peaks-tier line delivery, unique industrial musical direction, and psychological horror cutscene direction. The main plot and gameplay are worse than some games a generation prior in the same genre. I would even put the original Silent Hill and The Room above it.

The remake seems to have a more cognizant presentation with realistic world design and gameplay in line with modern AA horror games. It is too early to tell much else about it.

P.S. It will be a greatly updated gameplay experience if you have no attachment to the original's presentation.
 
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NeverYouMind

Gold Member
It took Capcom RE 3 Remake being flawed, to put Resident Evil in better hands, and then we got RE 4 Remake.
Original Resident Evil 3 was a trash mainline installment with a good dodge mechanic being tied to filler content with an obnoxious invincible enemy constantly interrupting the player's quest. Resident Evil 3 Remake gave the dodge a slow motion auto-aim critical hit that puts it above other third person shooters and a cohesive action film presentation that the original poorly attempted to emulate. It made Nemesis a threat exclusively for backtracking and transitions to new areas. It gave the franchise the best pacing and tightest, best realized level design of any game in the genre.

What did Resident Evil 4 Remake do? Make the game revolve around a new parry mechanic at the cost of reducing effectiveness of melee interactions and ability to stun enemies with precise shooting and knifing. Vastly condense and improve level design while adding side quests and crafting mechanics. But most of all, it butchered the characterization and chemistry of the entire supporting cast and lost the cult horror cliche humor of the original.
 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
But it's something I expect from Konami. It took Capcom RE 3 Remake being flawed, to put Resident Evil in better hands, and then we got RE 4 Remake.
Not sure if I follow or agree with this. RE3make was meh, but it's not like the games before that were. RE2make is top-tier. RE4make is top-tier. It's more to do with that RE3make was co-developed by M-Two, instead of the main Capcom team that worked on RE2make (and RE4make).

Original Resident Evil 3 was a trash mainline installment with a good dodge mechanic being tied to filler content with an obnoxious invincible enemy constantly interrupting the player's quest. Resident Evil 3 Remake gave the dodge a slow motion auto-aim critical hit that puts it above other third person shooters and a cohesive action film presentation that the original poorly attempted to emulate. It made Nemesis a threat exclusively for backtracking and transitions to new areas. It gave the franchise the best pacing and tightest, best realized level design of any game in the genre.


Arrested Development No GIF


OG RE3 wasn't as good as RE2, yes, but it was far from a trash game.
 

NeverYouMind

Gold Member
Arrested Development No GIF


OG RE3 wasn't as good as RE2, yes, but it was far from a trash game.
It was pure filler and backtracking galore. The real sequel, Code Veronica, was robbed so that this travesty could sell.

RE2make is top-tier.
Not really. Has annoying invincible enemy, bullet sponge enemies, poor character chemistry, and two campaigns with excessive redundancy. Original experience is better and more memorable.
 
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Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
To it feels it’s trying too hard to be RE2Remake and SH series are different games than RE.
 
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Northeastmonk

Gold Member
I’ve played since the original on PS1. I’ll definitely buy it, but those characters are 💩 compared to the cutscenes from the original games. It’s like they added 10-20 lbs to each character.
 

SaintALia

Member
How do you feel about what was shown of the Silent Hill 2 remake? I remember attempting to play the game on PS3 and at the time it felt horribly outdated and I was clueless as to what to do and why people loved it so much.

I’ve since, like a doofus, watched several YouTube videos detailing the story and what the game is all about. Still I’d like to experience it for myself.

Do you feel that the remake does the original justice? And will the changes to combat make the game more enjoyable and accessible to those that didn’t play the original? Obviously without playing only so much information can be gathered but you know what I’m asking.
Make this thread again when the game is released and people actually play it. We haven't even seen the puzzles yet, don't know what other changes to 'streamline' gameplay they've made, changes to the narrative etc.

So far the environment graphics look great, the animations in gameplay look a bit jank, combat seems so-so, but it's SH2, so-so combat is par for the course.
 

MagiusNecros

Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
To it feels it’s trying to hard to RE2Remake and SH series are different games than RE.
Oh it very much is a REmake clone. Part of the problem IMO. Trendchaser kind of game. Silent Hill fans will have little choice but to support the game if they want Silent Hill to continue. Even if the only good games in the franchise are 1-3. Some people like 4 though so there is that.

Perfect world would have a Remaster Trilogy for 1-3. Preferably where the port is good and is 100% playable and nothing "modernized".
 

keefged4

Member
There is no way in any universe that any remake or remaster will ever touch or come close to being as good as the original, the bar is far too high. Saying that, I think the remake will be fine, not great, but just fine.
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
IMG-0472.webp

The manual of the original game helped set the creepy tone of the game. I’d say it’s going to be hard to skip this.

If you think about it. Silent Hill defined the mystery of the unknown for a lot of people. We live in a day and age where someone on YouTube likes to coach us on everything about the topic. There’s a lot about this game that I want to witness myself without someone interpreting it because they got an early copy of the game. I definitely see those red flags. Konami supposedly picked Blooper because they made good concept art?
 
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NeverYouMind

Gold Member
There is no way in any universe that any remake or remaster will ever touch or come close to being as good as the original, the bar is far too high. Saying that, I think the remake will be fine, not great, but just fine.
Resident Evil 3 Remake, Dead Space Remake, Black Mesa, and X-COM: Enemy Unknown prove otherwise.
 

Hugare

Member
Models are the only thing that I'm not ok with (Angela and James look bad). Laura looked great tho, and so did Mary from that few seconds in the Transmission video.

Environments look excellent, voice acting sounds great. Combat looks like a more stilted RE game, but seriously, who enjoys combat in SH games? They've always been bad, and tho it doesnt look great here, at least seems serviceable enough.

I'm 100% buying it. Fuck it if turns out to be bad, the existence of this remake is crazy for me, and I'll find enjoyment in it regardless of how much it sucks compared to the original.

I've completed the original SH 2 this year, and I gotta say, story is awesome, but its far from a flawless masterpiece. I didnt enjoy playing the game, but I loved experiencing it.

And no matter how good this remake turns out to be, in the end, some fans would crucify it for not being as good as the "flawless" original due to their nostalgia googles.

Making a perfect remake like RE for Gamecube was in 2002 would show all the imperfections in terms of gameplay that people would have to admit that they sucked originaly (and they would suck even more in 2024) or they would have to look the other way.

Following the newer RE formula was the right decision. I just wanted more polish.
 
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ungalo

Member
It's not a jerk off to say there was definitely not the original's magic in what we saw. Some people tend to do gaslighting or to get angry when we shit on every minute detail, but it's not a random game we're talking about, what made SH2 a classic is just that, the details that give a deeper meaning to the game.

Bloober is just a mediocre studio. I don't want to hate on them but it's a mediocre studio. And it's an indie studio, you can tell the current tech helped them greatly to make it seem like it's a bigger games than it is. They're also showing in every presentation that they just went for the superficial aesthetic of SH2 while not really understanding a lot of things about it.
 
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keefged4

Member
Resident Evil 3 Remake, Dead Space Remake, Black Mesa, and X-COM: Enemy Unknown prove otherwise.
Your missing the point, SH2 sets an extremely high bar and there is no chance in hell the remake is going to be as good, I'm not saying all remakes/remasters are in the same situation. RE3 remake, really? I mean its a fine game in its own right but nowhere near as good as the original. RE3 remake cuts out entire chunks of the original.
 

Karuyag

Member
Why does Maria's head look weird? Like it's too big for her body...
Maria-head.png


For comparison.. her model is this lady..

Maria-model.png


I think it's the shoulders?
 
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peronmls

Member
It looks like random actors dressed up on staged. It doesn't feel fitting. SH2 remake exist for easy profit because it already has fans. KONAMI found the cheapest devs and we got a mediocre and soulless product.
 

NeverYouMind

Gold Member
Your missing the point, SH2 sets an extremely high bar and there is no chance in hell the remake is going to be as good, I'm not saying all remakes/remasters are in the same situation. RE3 remake, really? I mean its a fine game in its own right but nowhere near as good as the original. RE3 remake cuts out entire chunks of the original.
As a game Silent Hill 2 sucked so even if the remake is mediocre it will be a major upgrade. RE3R has better mechanics, structure, pacing, and presentation than original. It doesn't need a filler park, waste disposal facility, annoying ground burrowing boss with invincible states, or a short sightseeing tour of an old clocktower. The hospital trip with critically injured Jill makes a lot more sense than dropping her off in a clock tower church room anyways.
 
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nkarafo

Member
Everything lacked subtlety to me... It's complicated to explain.

Remaking SH 2 is a REALLY difficult task, because that game has this amateurish nature to it, that is difficult to replicate...

An obvious example is the voice acting and general acting of the original. It's very unique, and compliments the story and the themes BIG time...

Subtlety and "quiet" is a vital thing about Silent Hill 2. And at least from the trailers, they kept trying to be closer to Resident Evil more then Silent Hill. Loud and intense. When that's not what SH 2 is.

I genuinely believe that the only people that could Remake SH 2 well, are the people who made the original, and no one else.
I think FROM Software has a similar subtle style with their cutscenes and the way the characters deliver their lines. I bet they could make a great Silent Hill remake themselves.
 

SteadyEvo

Member
Resident Evil 3 Remake, Dead Space Remake, Black Mesa, and X-COM: Enemy Unknown prove otherwise.
The sound design in Dead Space Remake is atrocious compared to the original. Can’t quite put my finger on it, maybe it lacked punch or was too quiet. Enemies didn’t make sound in the remake and seemed to sneak up on me out of nowhere. I replayed the original on series X before playing the remake and prefer the original.
 

NeverYouMind

Gold Member
The sound design in Dead Space Remake is atrocious compared to the original. Can’t quite put my finger on it, maybe it lacked punch or was too quiet. Enemies didn’t make sound in the remake and seemed to sneak up on me out of nowhere. I replayed the original on series X before playing the remake and prefer the original.
Did you try adjusting various sound levels?
 

DaGwaphics

Member
The transmission footage does look a little better:



Still some oddities like the lack of detail on the shotgun and whatnot, not so much a lack of "next-gen" details but even a lack of last-gen details. But, I do like this style of game, especially when they go with a slower combat pacing like they appear to have gone with here. I will wishlist it on steam and wait for a good sale. I'm always harping on the devs for not being realistic with the budgets, maybe this is a case of them being realistic and careful not to over invest. I guess I shouldn't hold that against them. :messenger_beaming:
On the plus side, at least they kept the mist for ambiance.

I love the way the character is in a spooky environment chasing after something making unusual noises but he's going head first into that black hole in the wall, even with the trail of blood leading to it. You've got to love video game stories. At least he found a random bottle of "Nutritional Supplement" he downed on the spot.
 

Fart Knight

Al Pachinko, Konami President
I was never the biggest SH(2) fan, always a Resi guy. I did play them back in the day but only finished them recently with the HD collection on Xbox through bc. I like them but yeah the gameplay was and is terrible and by the looks of it, Bloober fixed that. They ll never get the same feel or atmosphere the original had tho. Still, Im eager to play the remake just to see what they've changed.
 
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FunkMiller

Gold Member
Id 100x prefer a Silent Hill 1 remake instead.

I agree with this, and I say it as someone who puts SH2 in his top five games of all time. The first game needed the remake far more, and there are far more alterations that you can make to that story to improve it.

I do not see Bloober Team in 2024 coming any way close to recapturing the surrealist nightmare that SH2 really is. Neither will they be able to resist the temptation to make the story and characters more easy to digest and more relatable.

The original SH2 is still one of the most mature video games ever made, and I fully expect that maturity to be sacrificed on the altar of 'exciting gaming for a modern audience'.
 

FunkMiller

Gold Member
I think FROM Software has a similar subtle style with their cutscenes and the way the characters deliver their lines. I bet they could make a great Silent Hill remake themselves.

There's definitely something quintessentially Japanese about SH2 that I doubt a bunch of Poles can recreate or understand.
 

TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
I've said it a couple of other places, but essentially for me, hell, I'll do a pro and con list:

Pro: - gameplay didn't look absolutely broken.

- Akira Yamaoka eats nails and shits them out in a tinfoil toilet filled with pop rocks and sodas and some Konami employee records it and it's more of a banger than the entire top 40.

-Largely impressed with the voice talent and how close they're sticking to Guy and Monica's original performances. They aren't animeing the entire thing like Laura Bailey and Troy Baker (literally cast as opposites in a Final Fantasy game, for reference) and the script seems largely in line with OG.

- Visuals look decent.

- Seeing the little bit of town traversal and hospital traversal was cool. Silent Hill was typically a series that was like an acid trip amusement park: you were mostly there to see the fucked up shit and try and piece that together, but sometimes you had to deal with the employees to get on the rides. That's a long way to say the environments are key. These don't look bad.


Cons: - Angelarge. *steps on scale* *still weighs 350 lbs* FOR ME, IT'S ALWAYS LIKE THIS *soosydes*

- Maria is now dressed like a middle class disgruntled secretary from 1988.

- The PR has been way too reactive and ass kissing to give me faith in the product. One trailer is combat heavy because Konami misread what modern players are into because they've been stuck in Japanese casino facsimiles for 12 years. They read the room, and the next showing is full of interviews with cast members and devs giving lip service to how much they respect the original, and how they're "channeling," as opposed to trying to outdo the original. The product didn't change in the three or four months since we last saw it. It wasn't adjusted to suit our needs. It's a set of stage props, and the guy behind the curtain is strategically pulling the Combat piece of cardboard away from the audience so that perspective makes it look smaller than it is.

- Angela is fucking fat.

- I'm a purist for this one thing, but the fact that they changed the radio area from the iconic tunnel to some dumb building pisses me off.

- Angelard.
 

Alebrije

Member
Think new game is better than nothing, SO if You never played SH games is fine...

The Game Will sell well....Konami Will be happy so more games could come, saddly for studios like Blooper...just imagine this IP developed by Blue point or another top Quality studio.
 

semiconscious

Gold Member
Everything lacked subtlety to me... It's complicated to explain.

Remaking SH 2 is a REALLY difficult task, because that game has this amateurish nature to it, that is difficult to replicate...

An obvious example is the voice acting and general acting of the original. It's very unique, and compliments the story and the themes BIG time...

Subtlety and "quiet" is a vital thing about Silent Hill 2. And at least from the trailers, they kept trying to be closer to Resident Evil more then Silent Hill. Loud and intense. When that's not what SH 2 is...
i think you explained it very well. what you're describing is a somewhat unintentional type of 'charm', & it's a form of charm that's next to impossible to capture intentionally. i I feel the exact same way about shadow of the colossus. some games (most games?) are relatively straight-forward to remake. other, subtler games? not so much. they're worth remastering, i'd say, but not really remaking...
 

DeepSpace5D

Member
I thought the characters look bad, but the enemies and environment look great. It looks like it’s going to be one of the best looking survival horror games out there. I hope it plays well, but it looks like it could be genuinely scary with the bump in visuals.

As a big fan of Silent Hill and someone who has not much faith in Bloober, the footage shown yesterday has me greatly wanting to play this now and I will be picking it up for sure. Character models aside.
 
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RaduN

Member
It's a piece of shit.

It's hard to explain, without major spoilers for the original why, based on what was shown so far, it is a piece of shit in absolute every aspect, but let's just say that the team behind it has no clue what the original was all about, no clue about the characters, the themes, the subtleties that made everything come together so damn well, absolutely none.

Everything here looks as if it's based on 2nd hand impressions from some person that didn't get it, at all.
 
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